Ryan Poles explains why Bears didn’t trade up on 2025 NFL Draft Day 1
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears made some calls aimed at possibly trading up in the 2025 NFL Draft’s first round. General manager Ryan Poles wanted to gauge the market for picking earlier than their draft slot.
Some elite talents, including Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and even Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, were available atop the draft Thursday night.
So, Poles surveyed the scene. He analyzed asking prices. And then decided against it.
The cost of doing business was too high.
Poles was clear after the first round that the Bears weren’t close to trading up.
“When we made those calls up,” Poles said, “it took you out.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars moved up three spots from No. 5 to No. 2 in a trade with the Cleveland Browns, then picked two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter. Then came reports that the Browns were taking calls to move down again, but they ultimately took Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham.
That was the last spot the Bears could have occupied to pick Jeanty before the Las Vegas Raiders took him at No. 6. Poles simply wasn’t interested in giving up the draft capital required to make those moves.
The Bears have two high second-round picks, at Nos. 39 and 41, that could glean impact starters if correctly used. They wanted those opportunities.
“There’s a run coming up here (on Day 2) that I think you can make a pretty big impact on your football team,” Poles said. “To give up that for one person, so giving up two for one — and it probably would’ve been even more than that — it just didn’t make sense.”
Poles said the Bears were comfortable taking Michigan tight end Colston Loveland at No. 10 overall, acquiring a talented high-character player he believes will fit in well with their football team under new coach Ben Johnson.
The Bears explored moves in all directions, but they decided to stay put and make their pick as scheduled.
“We made phone calls up and back just to kind of see what the landscape was. Did it make sense for us or not?” Poles said. “At the end of the day, the way it fell, we felt really comfortable with how it worked out.”